B'luru court acquits former French diplomat accused of raping daughter

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Wednesday acquitted former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, who had been accused of raping his three and a half years old daughter.

According to a report in The Newsminute, a sessions court judge said that there were nor enough evidence to convict the 44-year-old ex-diplomat.

"The Honourble court has taken the evidence into consideration and given the judgment. The police has done a fantastic job," Mazurier’s lawyer said, following the judgment.

The complaint was filed by Mazurier's ex-wife Suja Jones in 2012.

"The allegations were the most heinous of a kind a father would face, so ultimately based on the material and the defense we have taken, the honorable court came to a right conclusion that the offences have not been proved and ordered the acquittal of Mr. Pascal," his counsel told ANI after the hearing.

Speaking to ANI after his acquittal, Pascal admitted that it was mental trauma to be falsely accused, to be separated from his children and to stay for so long out of his country, during which time, he lost some dear ones.

"So yes its joy today to finally see the truth. It's almost a five year long battle, so I'm happy. Let me get the copy of judgment, then we will take the next step. Not so many people supported me. I was not in my country, I was alone. All I had was my lawyers," he added.

Despite the Vienna convention stating that a diplomat cannot be arrested or detained, Mazurier, however, was arrested on on June 15, 2012. An FIR was registered against Mazurier, who was the deputy head of chancery at the French Consulate in Bangalore, under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for rape) at the High Grounds police station.

On February 11, 2014, a sessions court in New Delhi had framed charges against Mazurier, after it earlier refused to discharge him on ground that there was sufficient evidence for him to face trial.

Police filed an additional charge sheet against Mazurier in January 2013, with a detailed report of doctors who said the accused sodomised and raped his daughter for two years.

In 2014, he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention for expediting the trial in the case.

In a letter to Modi, Mazurier made an appeal to put the case on fast track as his grandmother was on death bed and wanted to see him.